(October 17, 2026) — During GW’s annual Alumni & Families Weekend, the university community gathered to honor two of its most consequential supporters. Michael and Lori Milken received the GW Philanthropy Award at the Spirit of GW Awards held on Saturday, October 17. This award recognized their many years of philanthropic service, leadership, and dedication to the values GW champions.
Dean Kelly Gebo introduced the couple, describing their impact on the Milken Institute School of Public Health (Milken Institute SPH) as transformative. A video tribute followed, highlighting their generosity and vision. Married since 1968, the Milkens have spent more than five decades supporting medical research, public health, education, the performing arts, community advocacy, access to capital, and more.
Their support helped establish the Milken Institute SPH. They led the Milken Institute, Milken Family Foundation, and Redstone Family Foundation in a record-breaking $80 million initiative to elevate public health education at GW. Their generosity allows GW to train future public health leaders, provide scholarships, support faculty, and fund groundbreaking research in a state-of-the-art building that bears their name.
In a video acceptance speech that played during the ceremony, Mike Milken explained what drew them to support GW: “Universities have to be committed to attracting the best and brightest professors, which will attract the best and brightest students, which will attract the most interested donors to the university. And that is what attracted us to GW and its School of Public Health in the beginning.”
Still, the school is only one part of their many philanthropic endeavors. Together, the couple founded and supported the Milken Family Foundation and the Milken Scholars Program. Mike, whose early work as a financier transformed capital markets, has applied his strategic and leadership skills as chairman of the Milken Institute, the Prostate Cancer Foundation, and FasterCures. He also founded the Milken Center for Advancing the American Dream in Washington, DC, co-founded the Melanoma Research Alliance, and wrote Faster Cures: Accelerating the Future of Health. Lori, a publisher and co-founder of Delphinium Books, has built her career on uplifting others’ voices and helping stories get told. She serves on the boards of the Milken Institute, the Prostate Cancer Foundation, and the Los Angeles Ballet, and previously served on the boards of Mattel Children’s Hospital UCLA and American Ballet Theatre.
Michael and Lori Milken exemplify what the Spirit of GW Awards celebrate. Their commitment to health, education, the arts, and the well-being of children and families reflects the true spirit of the GW community and the top-ranked public health school they helped to create.